An Open Letter to Antifa

Dear Antifa,

Look, aside from a very small number of psychopaths, everyone agrees that fascism is not an ideal form of government.

But you need to rethink your anti-capitalism position.

Fact is, capitalism does not breed the conditions to create fascism.

Capitalism works to prevent fascism.

The core component of capitalism is the private ownership of property — the most important to this discussion being the means of production. It’s simply when private individuals are allowed to own businesses. Without capitalism, there is no such thing as a private company or entrepreneur.

On the other side of the fence, under communism, a nation’s trade and industry is controlled by the government. For all intents and purposes, it’s a government monopoly. Under socialism, the means of production are regulated by the community as a whole with no direct private or public ownership.

Now just think how living under either one of those systems would actually affect your life…

Have you ever been to the Department of Motor Vehicles?

Have you ever been to the post office or to the courthouse for a marriage license?

Have you ever had to visit any government agency at all?

Well, now imagine just going to the supermarket living in a completely communist nation where all goods and services are provided by the government.

How efficient do you think this government-run supermarket is going to be? Do you think you’re going to get the same quality of products from the government that you currently do from private businesses?

Because they would also own all the farms all of the food was raised and harvested.

And the trucks that brought the food to the store.

And the company that provides the electricity to keep the store’s lights on.

And the factory that produced the shopping cart.

And the plant that built the cash register.

Under socialism, no one would.

Do you really trust the government, or your community at large, to provide you with the same level of quality and service that private companies provide to you now?

Here’s what your supermarket would look like under communism at the best of times…

Here’s what it would look like at the worst of times…

But, OK, you’re not an idiot. I’m sure you understand the need and benefits of the private ownership of the means of production. And I’m sure it’s not that part of capitalism you’re railing against.

And if I’m wrong, please, leave a comment and tell me below…

But I’d guess you’re really upset about “consumer capitalism.”

Consumer capitalism is deliberately influencing consumer demand for profit. In other words, marketing.

And that’s all it is… marketing… advertising. You can use pejorative words like “manipulative” to describe consumer capitalism. But at the end of the day, an individual is free to do what they please with their money.

So what is it about consumer capitalism and mass marketing you don’t like?

Well, I’m not really sure.

Perhaps you’re upset that consumer capitalism (or capitalism itself) does not condemn greed?

I’d agree. It doesn’t. But if that’s the case, I’m sorry to tell you that greed is a part of the human condition. And you can’t force or guilt the greed out of people. If it were possible to eliminate greed through force or guilt, religion would have been successful long ago.

Now, I’m not promoting greed. I’m not going to say “greed is good.” Instead, I simply mean it can’t be worked out of the human condition. And people are like Chinese finger traps: the harder you pull, the tighter they’ll hold. Forcing the greed out of them will only embolden them to resist… It will make them greedier.

Perhaps you’re envious that others can be greedy or selfish without feel guilty?

I mean, maybe it’s you that you’re envious of the “I’m going to take what I want and you’re going to have to stop me” mentality… the alpha mentality.

And I don’t mean “alpha male.” There are plenty of alpha women. And they’re awesome.

But here’s the thing: None of this matters.

It doesn’t matter if you’re envious of the alpha mentality — it exists and it’s not going away; deal with it.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t like human greed or selfishness — it exists and it’s not going away; deal with it.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t like mass marketing just because they’re good at it — it exists and it’s not going away; deal with it, bro.

Yes, capitalism allows for greed and creates wealth inequality. So what?

Inequality is a natural part of life. Consider Darwinism. The evolution of species depends on inequality. Without inequality in nature, the human being wouldn’t exist.

But here’s your biggest mistake in being anti-capitalist…

The ownership of private property prevents fascism.

Communism — again, that’s the government ownership of property — breeds fascism. Just take a look at early 20th century geopolitics. WWII was the result.

Hell, take a look at China today. The communist government has enforced strict controls on available internet content and levies harsh punishments against offenders. You wouldn’t even be allowed to read this if we were living in China. It would have been filtered and blocked.

I couldn’t even publish this. I’d go to jail.

But forget China… Let me ask you this: What went wrong in Venezuela?

Control over a nation’s means of production is power. When private individuals are able to control those means, they have the power. Why would you want to strip that power from citizens?

If you were truly anti-fascist, you’d be pro-capitalism. Rethink your position.

Until next time,

Luke Burgess

As an editor at Energy and Capital, Luke’s analysis and market research reach hundreds of thousands of investors every day. Luke is also a contributing editor of Angel Publishing’s Bull and Bust Report newsletter. There, he helps investors in leveraging the future supply-demand imbalance that he believes could be key to a cyclical upswing in the hard asset markets. For more on Luke, go to his editor’s page.